Beer- #1,085 – Epic – Epicurean Coffee and Fig Oatmeal Stout – Three is a crowd – 2013
It’s a taste-off of beers, an old beer and a newer old beer beer. I’m going to taste again the 2013, the 2014 and the 2015 versions of the Epic – Epicurean Coffee & Fig Oatmeal Stout, a bit mad if you ask me. Not all at once even I saw the sense in speaking these out over three posts
I first wrote about this beer in 2014 where is scored 9 on the random number pdubyah-o-meter – oh that’s over 700 beer posts ago.
handled in a slightly different way
A beer that are of 8% ABV, and 50 IBU things, making it about 240 calories a serving size, each 750ml bottle contains 4.73 standard drink units in NZ.
This is then beer from Epic Brewing Company (NZ) brewed at Steam Brewing Company in the style that is Imperial Stout and they are in Auckland, New Zealand
It’s as old as I look
The Epicurean series is a celebration of the flavours and aromas that can be found within the diverse range of ingredients that brewers and chefs alike use in their creations.
This beer is a culmination of hours of cerebration, experimentation, cogitation and libation.
And a sprinkling of dehydrated finesse.
- 2013 – COFFEE: Wet Process Ethiopian Sidamo Coffee Bean (roasted by L’affare), Caramelised Dried Turkish Lerida Figs, and Toasted Philippine Coconut
Apart from an early night what cold possibly go wrong?
Well quite a lot, these have been in the cellar (Also known as the fridge) for too long, this may be the worlds shortest review, possibly as few as two words.
I have trepidation about open this, 1 because if it is nice then perhaps I should have saved it, or it’ll be atrocious and I’m about to eat a whole cheese and tears.
Ok, it seems ok, there’s a glorious coffee and chocolate aroma, it’s made me giddy with joy,
It was time
The pour is glorious, look at that head, sitting there all off white and full of itself. This smells like cold-brew fresh dropped coffee, it’s really alive.
The taste is coffee, a greenness from the beans, a glorious spritz of bitterness that moves away to a lovely muted and delicate finish at the back.
It’s really pleasant, and I might be over enthusiastic about it, because well it is 7 years old for a start, and it is tasking fine. Whilst it does not appear to have lost anything I also don’t think that it’s gained anything. Not being an expert on beer storage I’m going to probably say that it should have been stored in a cool dark place where it might have been better suited to maturation.
But I’m not letting that stop me, this is a properly nice treat and I’m loving it, properly loving it, not that McDonalds loving it way.
Each mouthfeel is preceded by a waft of that coffee, that reminds you about what you’re going to get. I’m doing all I can to let this warm through as quaffing it, however tempting, will not do it justice.
I find however that I’m kind of let down by the lack of a mouthfeel in this, I’m loathe, as I was all those years ago to call it thin, but I thought that the oatmeal would have puffed this up a bit and made it, for want of a different description, chewier.
I’m not disappointed as I can sure feel that 8% in this, and I don’t feel regret, or a sense of loss, I’m getting more a nostalgic look over my shoulder at a different times when things were, well, different.
The pdubyah-o-meter rates this as 9 a of its things from the thing. I don’t quite know what I expected or wanted from this, I think I wanted something ‘deeper’ and more robust in some way, something, but this seems to be remarkably much the same as the first time I had it, which is either a misunderstanding on what ageing might have done, or poor or improper storage, or both. I love totally that green coffee cold drip aroma, I like the way that the beer tastes like coffee, with hints of a bitterness and lovely soft muted finish.
I think I’m happy I waited.
The double dip review
- Where did I get this? They’re treasures from the fridge, probably though Liquirland stores have the newest versions available.
- Am I enjoying it? I am, and as the 8% kicks in I might just have a cry.
- Would I have another? There probably won’t be any others, at least that I’d be invited to share.
- Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? This would have been a lovely beer to have shared with someone, someone who appreciates a beer and the sheer willpower of not drinking it for 7 years.
I
‘m listening to “Modern Vampires of the City by Vampire Weekend on the Spotify (for you)
I’m playing that on the vinyl (white) that I’ve been meaning to listen to for a while now
Modern Vampires of the City is the third studio album by American indie rock band VampireWeekend. It was released on May 14, 2013
I’d forgotten what this was like, obviously brought at a time when I was buying all sorts of things for many reasons from a record shop that sadly closed and went away. I tried.
STOUT
Many stouts do not fit the classic “Irish” definition as exemplified by Guinness, either due to their hop or roast rates, or higher gravity (in the case of many American stouts). They are still basic stouts, however, not falling into any of the subclasses.
Related articles
Previously I’ve drunk the 2011 – a 9 on the pdubyah-o-meter, and the 2013 – also a 9 , and the 2014 got to an 8 on the pdubyah-o-meter, and obviously I missed a trick in 2012.
A life just as ordinary 